Littering epidemic in England as Countryside Code is largely ignored

Government has spent less than 2,000 a year promoting guidelines to help visitors respect wildlife and landscapes

An unprecedented rise in litter, damaging fires and fly-camping" across the English countryside is partly a result of the government spending less than 2,000 a year over the past decade on promoting the Countryside Code, campaigners say.

The code, a set of simple guidelines to help rural visitors respect wildlife, local people and landscapes, was relaunched in England in 2004 after the new right to roam" law increased access to the countryside.